


The Hardest Part Of This Is Leaving You

by FreAlie



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, real life AU - Fandom
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Chaos, Child Abuse, Heavy Angst, Illegal Activities, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Maybe they might get adopted idk, Most of their past foster homes have sucked, Multi, Nonbinary Ranboo, Not RPF, Oh yeah Philza is kinda mean in this, Past Child Abuse, Ranboo is into some shady shit but nobody finds out until later, Sad Ranboo, Texting, cursing, mentioned illegal activities, ranboo angst, ranboo is a foster kid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29926512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreAlie/pseuds/FreAlie
Summary: In which, Tubbo adds Ranboo into the wrong group chat and tries to play it off.[Half chat fic] and half real-life ficReal named will not be used unless it's for reprimanding purposes like "Clay I'm gonna start counting to one." or "Toby you have until two to apologize."
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity/Sapnap, All of the relationships mentioned can be seen as platonic, Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Comments: 23
Kudos: 224





	1. Wrong Group Chat

**[Bee has added Boo to the chat]**

_[Bee]:_ Ranboo- meet the family!

_[Boo}:_ Uh, hello.

_[Innit]:_ Hey arent u that new kid from three days ago

_[Boo]:_ Depends. Is the new kid 6 feet 6 inches?

_[Wilby]:_ Ain’t no goddamn way your 6’6” and the same age as Tommy

_[Dream]:_ I beg to differ actually. I’ve seen the kid before and he’s definitely taller than Tommy

_[Arsonist]_ : Hey Ranboo wanna go stab a bitch with me

_[BBHalo]_ : Language Sapnap

[BBHalo]: Hello Ranboo! Welcome to the choas chat :)

_[Boo] is typing…_

_[Boo] is typing…_

_[Boo] has gone offline_

_[Dream]_ : Tubbo what the fuck is wrong with you

_[Innit]_ : Good thing we scared him away

_[Wilby]_ : Tubbo you are so lucky Techno and Phil aren’t here

_[Orphanbegone]_ : Actually, we’ve been here the entire time. Ever heard of just not touching the “send a message” bar.

_[Orphanbegone]_ : Btw Tubbo, Phil wants to see you in his office later. 

_[King]_ : wait why is tubbo in trouble?

_[Arsonist]_ : Added a civilian to the chat, some new kid from his and Tommy’s school ig

^Responding to _[Orphanbegone]_ : Btw Tubbo, Phil wants to see you in his office later.

_[Bee]_ : Alright

_[Dream]_ : Seriously Tubbo why would you add him to the chat

_[Wilby]_ : Specifically this one. We have so many others and you decided on the one where we talk about illegal shit

_[Innit]_ : Shut up all of you he gets it already

_[Arsonist]_ : Tommy we literally only have two rules for this gc. Don’t talk about it outside of the chat/persons in the chat and don’t add randoms into any of the gcs’ unless they’ve been checked

_[Arsonist]_ : It isn’t that hard to follow them

_[Bee]_ : I’m sorry okay? I thought I had clicked on a different gc but it’s not like I could undo it

_[Dadza]_ : Swing by at 9 pm, Tubbo

_[Innit]_ : That’s after his curfew though,,

_[Dadza]_ : Seems like his problem. Don’t be late Tubbo or I’ll send Techno out to look for you

_[Orphanbegone]_ : Guess I’m a dog now F’s in chat

_[Wilby]_ : F

_[Dream]_ : F

_[King]_ : f

_[Innit]_ : Haha wait your a bitch now?

_[Dadza]_ : Tommy don’t make me start counting to 1

_[Innit]_ : IM sorry tehcoi

^Responding to _[Innit]_ : IM sorry tehcoi

 _[Orphanbegone]_ : I’m* Techno* Your not forgiven, child

_[Dadza]_ : Techno you may not be my son but I’ll still count

_[Orphanbegone]_ : Lol imagine trying to intimidate me

_[Dream]_ : That only works on the people he ccan beat in a fight

_[Dadza]_ : Wanna test that out Clay?

_[Dream]_ : No sir have a good day

_[Dream] has gone offline_

_[King]_ : hahahaha nice job phil

_[Dadza]_ : Tommy, Tubbo go do your homework, you too Eret, Techno, and Wilbur. Everybody else go do other shit. Don’t put another damn message in this chat until tomorrow after school unless your dying or being attacked, understand?

_[Bee] has gone offline_

_[Innit] has gone offline_

_[Wilby] has gone offline_

_[Orphanbegone] has gone offline_

_[King] has gone offline_

_[Arsonist] has gone offline_

_[BBHalo] has gone offline_

_[Dadza] has gone offline_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❗❕❗TRIGGER WARNING FOR CHILD ABUSE ❗❕❗

Ranboo sat down in the middle of the hallway, covering their head with their arms. Their current foster mom, Caroline, was in a particularly bad mood today and she decided taking it out on her foster child would be a good idea. It’s not like they’ll complain either. Ranboo will take all of it without so much as a cry. Unless a weapon is involved but she’s just using her fists and feet.

After a particularly hard kick aimed at his head but hitting his arms instead they flinched. Caroline slurred a bunch of words together before walking away with an obvious stumble in her feet. After making sure she was out of their sight Ranboo stood up slowly, scrunching their face up at the pain. She hadn’t broken anything just gave them a shit ton of new bruises to heal from.

Quite honestly they don’t know how their social worker hasn’t found out yet. It’s not like they try to hide it from the man. They hide it around everyone else because it’s just a couple of bruises and they're a strong kid. The only reason they don’t hide it from their social worker is because the last time they did the foster parents got twice the amount of time as the other ones.

Once fully standing they take some deep breaths in quietly before taking a gentle step forward. Sharp stabs of pain filtered through their arms as their hands attempted to keep steady on the wall. Their knees hurt already, as a result of being kicked quite a few times plus having worked late at night into the early mornings and returning only three hours before Caroline had given them a piece of her mind.

They blocked out the pain as best as they could as they made their way toward the kitchen to grab some pieces of bread for breakfast. Ranboo never bothered to toast it, butter it, or do anything really to it. They’d just grab it and go. It’s probably not the best thing they could eat but they were actually leaving the house a little later than they normally would for the current school they were going to.

They were a junior now after all- and plus it’s only their fourth day going to the dumb school. They met a brown haired boy yesterday who immediately tried to make friends with them. It was quite frankly irritating yet refreshingly new for them. They’ve been through several schools in their life and almost every kid has ignored them.

Something about his eyes or whatever.

Nonetheless, after grabbing a few pieces of bread and slowly treading against the wall to their room to grab their backpack they leave the house. It takes a lot of deep breathing and half-hearted mental reassurances to stop leaning on the door way and walk without something to lean onto. Once they do, they almost instantly regret it as a rush of pain flows through their body.

Their toes curl up in their shoes so tightly that they start to cramp. They focus on the minor uncomfortableness to be able to turn around and close the door behind them and begin on the tedious walk to school. Their phone buzz’s multiple times in their pocket and they roll their eyes ever so slightly. Ranboo pulls their phone out from their pocket and they stare at the custom phone case for a while before clicking the power button at the side.

**8:07 am  
Tubbo 🌸🐝  
Hey Ranboo, I wanted to know if you needed a…**

Ranboo pulled their bottom lip under their top teeth, being mindful of their unusually sharp canine teeth. They glanced up briefly from their phone to see where they were from the school. It would take at least fifteen minutes to walk normally but they were planning on taking it slow today to avoid making their bruises ache to the point that they wouldn't be able to hide it.

They moved to the side of the sidewalk to stay out of people's ways as they made their morning commute. They looked down at their phone and clicked it back on and double tapped on the notification they had gotten from Tubbo. They entered their seven letter password and got automatically taken to the messages sent between them and Tubbo.

**Tubbo 🌸🐝  
Hey Ranboo, I wanted to know if you needed a ride to school. Tommy and I are already running late and we know you aren't at school already.**

Ranboo stared curiously at the message, mentally questioning how he knew they weren't at school already but they had no time for it. They had two options currently, take the ride and be a bother to Tubbo, Tommy, and whoever was driving them or walk to school hopefully without problem.

**Ranboo ❤️💚**

**No thanks, I can get there by myself.**

**Tubbo 🌸🐝  
You sure? You won't be a bother.**

_Ranboo ❤💚 is typing…_

_Ranboo❤️💚 is typing…_

_Ranboo❤💚 has gone offline_

Ranboo could already sense the trouble before it came. They quickly shut their phone off halfway through sending a reassuring message to Tubbo that they would walk and hastily put their phone in their pocket before a tall(but still shorter than them) man walked over to them. The man poked an accusing finger into Ranboo's chest and their toes curled at the sudden attention turned toward them.

Ranboo hesitantly took a step back, trying not to provoke the man but that did more harm than good. Gasps came from the people nearby who had stopped, but not helped, to see the situation play out. The man pulled out a switchblade and had flicked the blade out, pointing it towards Ranboo who took another step back. They were now standing in between two cars on the road.

The man hurled words at Ranboo and they tried to pick out what he was saying but the slurred and broken speech made it hard to understand what was being said. Ranboo must've pulled a confused face or done anything wrong really because the man came forwards again and swung his knife at Ranboo.

Rambo's natural instinct was to take a good few steps back.

Right into traffic.

Ranboo covered their head, hoping that the knife wouldn't hit them. It hadn't even occurred to them that they had even stepped into the open road. By the time they did realise they had stepped into the open road was when somebody had gotten out of their car and grabbed the man attacking Ranboo by his wrist and forcing him to drop the knife with only a stare.

Ranboo looked at the brown haired –with salmon colored short side swept front bangs– stranger who saved them but the stranger was quickly dismissed when two familiar voices flew into their ears.

"Ranboo!" Tubbo exclaimed as he climbed out of the same car as the stranger.

Another man, this one blond almost climbed out of the vehicle. Tommy seemed to be in the backseat, trying to get his door open but not being able to. He seemed to be yelling and screaming but Ranboo didn't know why.

Ranboo took a quick step backwards from the trio, their toes curling insufferably harder making them almost wince at the feeling. Tubbo ran over to Ranboo immediately, not taking a single glance at the man who attacked them.

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you? I swear to god if he did–" Tubbo started sweetly but their tone turned poisonous and they glanced at the man who was now unconscious on the ground.

"I…" Ranboo paused, as they tried to keep their stuttering to a minimum, "I'm fine. He didn't actually cut me. Just startled me."

"Startled is a gentle way to put it, kid," The man with salmon colored bangs said as his black eyes flickered over to Ranboo, "Seems more like you don't want to admit your afraid."

"Techno, enough, " The blond man said as he also looked over at Ranboo who cowered under the gaze of so many people, "Tubbo, take him to the car. Make sure Tommy doesn't get out of the car."

Tubbo nodded and turned around to walk to the car with a slightly sad Ranboo following behind him. They felt Techno and the blond man's gaze on their back for a few seconds before the feeling disappeared and quiet murmurs filled the air behind them. They stood awkwardly next to the car as Tubbo opened the door.

Almost instantly, Tommy's voice was clear to hear, "I swear to fucking God that son of a bitch is dead. I don't give a shit if he didn't hurt Ranboo- he could've gotten hit by a car! Fucking lucky I'm stuck in the damn car or–"

"Tommy, you'll scare Ranboo. He's already scared enough already," Tubbo said and Tommy quieted down quickly, though the anger was still visible in his blue eyes.

Ranboo swallowed thickly at the pronouns the others used for them. They aren't exactly too comfortable with telling people what pronouns they prefer to go by as that more often than not leads to bullying. But God almighty do they hate people assuming they go by he/him just because their biologically male. But then again it is their own fault since they haven't told any of these new people in their life what pronouns they go by.

"I'm fine, really. I can just walk to school," Ranboo looked away and fidgeted with their backpack strings at the looks Tommy and Tubbo gave them, "I don't even know what that guys deal was. Maybe just a bad day, ya know? Or could've mistaken me for somebody else…"

"Ranboo what…" Tubbo trailed off, a sadden expression on his face.

Tommy looked angry and Ranboo could only hope that it wasn't aimed at them. It's not like they would even fight back either, just protect their head as best as they can with their arms. But if Tommy told them to put their arms down, they would do it. Following orders is better than disobeying and receiving a harsher punishment.

"That son of a–" Tommy's sentence was cut off and muffled as Tubbo closed the door to let Tommy scream and rant about whatever he was mad about.

Ranboo and Tubbo stood in awkward silence as police sirens rolled into both of their ears. Tubbo relaxed his posture suspiciously so while one of Rambo's hands made their way into their black and white dyed hair to gently pull as they tried to ground themself. They hate sirens. Sirens only mean bad things. Sirens only cause bad things. Nothing good comes from the sirens.

"Hey, you okay mate?" A voice rings out but Ranboo can hardly make it out.

Tears gather in their eyes as the situation finally catches up to them. Holy shit, they could've died! Either to a non-sharp switchblade or to a car hitting them. Nobody would've stopped the man until it happened. Everybody in the area would've watched as they were killed. Nobody would've helped.

_Nobody would have helped._

A hand laid itself gently on their shoulder and they blinked as tears rolled down their cheeks. Their hands went up and wiped away the sign of weakness. It was dumb. They've gotten in situations worse than this. Why would they get emotional over this one?

"Take some deep breaths, kid," Ranboo swears it's Technos voice they hear but it sounds muffled.

Ranboo only said one thing before falling to their knees, as the mental and physical pain weighed them down.

"Fuck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Help me name this chapter, please. Also, would you people like it if I added chapter summaries?


	3. Chapter 3

_ [Dadza]: Eret, Wilbur, leave school and go home.  _

_ [Arsonist]: Did something happen? _

_ [Innit]: Some fucking bitch nearly stabbed Ranboo _

^Responding to  _ [Dadza]: _ Eret, Wilbur, leave school and go home. 

_ [King]:  _ alright, but we're stopping to get snacks. 

_ [Dadza]:  _ That's fine, whatever. And Tommy, shut it. You've been unhelpful this entire time and it's getting on my nerves. 

_ [Dream]: _ Phil, you know how he gets when one of his friends get hurt. You can't blame the kid

_ [Dadza]:  _ I can and I will blame him, Dream. His anger will get him no where

_ [Boo]:  _ Uh… 

_ [Boo]:  _ You guys still do realise I'm in this chat right?

_ [Bee]:  _ Ranboo! Did they stop questioning you yet?

_ [Boo]:  _ Yeah. They are trying to get in contact with my foster mom but I don't think she gives a shit so my social worker is most likely gonna come and deal with it. 

_ [Wilby]:  _ Wait what the hell has happened? Why is Ranboo being questioned and who the hell tried to kill him?

_ [Orphanbegone]:  _ Long story short, Ranboo got attacked on his way to school. I intervened and the kid got overwhelmed and fell to the floor when the police got there. We all got questioned, blah blah blah, they commended me for being "heroic" and then proceeded to scold me over how reckless it was. They've kept Ranboo the longest though. We're all just waiting in the car for Ranboo to get out so we can take him home. 

_ [Dadza]: _ Hey Ranboo, what's your foster mother look like?

_ [Boo]:  _ Uh, dark brown hair, tanned skin and light brown eyes

_ [Bee]:  _ She's here then, just got out of her car

_ [Innit]:  _ She looks angry as hell

_ [Arsonist]:  _ Why would she be mad tho?? Ranboo hasn't done anything wrong. 

_ [Boo]:  _ That's probably not what she thinks

_ [King]:  _ what does that mean ranboo?

_ [Dream]:  _ Ranboo are you okay to go with her?

_ [Boo] is typing…  _

_ [Boo] is typing…  _

_ [Boo] has gone offline _

_ [Arsonist]:  _ I swear to fucking god if his foster mom lays a hand on him I'll burn her whole house down

_ [Dream]:  _ But that would also leave Ranboo without a home or parent to look after him

_ [Bee]:  _ She's just dragging him outside the station. He looks like he's in pain. 

_ [Innit]:  _ I know I'm not the only one that saw that- right?

_ [Dadza]:  _ Tommy we're literally in the same car what could you have possibly seen that we couldn't

_ [Innit]:  _ He's bleeding Phil! The fucking bitch is digging her nails into his skin. 

_ [Arsonist]:  _ Well, time to live up to my nickname in this chat. 

_ [Timetravel]:  _ Sapnap, no. We can figure out another way, alright. 

_ [Aveniño]: _ Sapnap, chill. We can go light somebody else's house up but not Ranboo's. 

_ [Boo]:  _ Uh yeah, please don't light up her house. Also, Tommy I'm fine. It's not a lot of blood anyway. 

_ [King]:  _ but she still hurt you

_ [Boo]:  _ So?

_ [Wilby]: _ Ranboo when we meet I am going to have an extensive talk with you about what your foster mother is doing wrong

_ [Boo]:  _ Doesn't matter, I'm getting sent back to the home. 

_ [Dadza]:  _ When?

_ [Boo]:  _ On Sunday

_ [Orphanbegone]:  _ Phil I hope your not

_ [Dadza]:  _ Nah I don't plan on it, just wanted to know

_ [Boo]: _ 'Ight well I gotta go but thank you Technoblade for saving me and thank you Phil for trying to help me

_ [Boo] has gone offline _

_ [Orphanbegone]:  _ Uh, I clearly don't remember telling him my name is Technoblade

_ [Dadza]:  _ Tommy, Tubbo keep an eye on him. You too Dream, protect him from the rooftops. 

_ [Dream]:  _ What the hell I don't even have any relation build with the kid why do I have to protect him???

_ [Dadza]: _ Because your the only freeloader here and you can actually do your job

_ [King]:  _ f

_ [Skeps]:  _ F

_ [BBHalo]:  _ F

_ [Arsonist]:  _ F

_ [Timetravel]:  _ F

_ [Dream]:  _ Damn, the disrespect

_ [Dadza]:  _ Would you rather me ask you in person?

_ [Dream]:  _ Nope, I'm good thanks for asking though

_ [Dadza]:  _ Right, we'll, Techno ban and kick Ranboo from this chat. And do some research on him before adding him to a different one. 

_ [Orphanbegone]: _ Hhhhhhhhh, that's a lot of work

_ [Timetravel]: _ I can help out :)

_ [Orphanbegone]:  _ Smile at me through a text message again and I'll snap you in half. 

_ [Orphanbegone]: _ But yes you can help

_ [Orphanbegone] has kicked [Boo] from the chat _

_ [Orphanbegone] has banned [Boo] from the chat _

_ [Orphanbegone] has gone offline _

_ [Timetravel] has gone offline _

_ [King]:  _ Alright, Wilbur and I are on our way to the house now. 

_ [Dadza]:  _ k

_ [Dadza] has gone offline _

_ [Wilby]:  _ I hope Ranboo is okay

_ [Arsonist]:  _ Still kinda wanna burn his foster mom's house down

_ [Skeps]:  _ You can do it after he leaves the house

_ [Arsonist]:  _ Okay

_ [Aveniño]:  _ Skeppy why the hell would you encourage him

_[BBHalo]_ : Language Quackity


	4. Sorrowful Mother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❗❕❗TRIGGER WARNING FOR CHILD ABUSE, MENTIONS OF ABUSING OTHER KIDS, AND AN OPEN ENDED ASSUMED SUICIDE ❗❕❗

“Ranboo,” The words were said sweetly, far too sweetly for how much anger hid behind Caroline’s brown eyes, “Explain why I had to pick you up from a police station at 10 am when you are supposed to be in school.”

Ranboo exhaled slowly, slowly opening their eyes to look at her. Their face hurt a lot, as did the rest of their body. The second the two of them had gotten home she unleashed almost insufferable amounts of anger onto Ranboo. There would be no way to hide the bruises that would be visible outside of long clothing as they had long since run out of the concealer. They were sure they would be walking for at least two days with a limp until the pain shallows down. The cut marks littering on their face and forearms could be covered with bandaids and maybe they could steal some bandages from Caroline’s bathroom the next morning or whenever she went to sleep.

“I got threatened with a knife,” Ranboo paused to cough and they inhaled sharply at the pain, “And almost got hit by a car.”

“Liar!” Caroline cried out, making Ranboo flinch and jump up at the sudden loudness, “You told them about what I do to you- didn’t you!”

Ranboo shook their head trying to reassure Caroline that they hadn’t actually told anybody anything but she did not pay attention to the gesture. She brought the hard cover book she had in her hands up into the air and Ranboo didn’t even have time to put their hands up as she swung the book down on the side of their head a few times before they put their hands up to protect their head. Ranboo weakly cried and curled up into a ball on the ground as Caroline continued to beat them with a book.

**\- - - - -**

“Tommy, seriously we shouldn’t be doing this,” Tubbo whisper-yelled to his blond haired counterpart who strolled steadily through the busy crowd, holding hands with Tubbo so the shorter boy wouldn’t get lost, “We’re gonna get in trouble with Philza.”

“I don’t give a shit what Philza has us do later from this,” Tommy seethed to his best friend as he spared a glance at the older boy before looking around to see where the duo were.

They were on the sidewalk that Ranboo had been walking down before he had gotten attacked. The bad news was that they didn’t know which house was his. Living in the city meant that the houses were all very close together so it just made it even harder to find where the white and black haired boy lived.

“Well  _ I  _ care! He made me kill some of my bees and then made me go out with Eret that night,” Tubbo whispers frantically, glancing around at the rooftops, hoping that Dream wasn’t nearby, “Eret is crazy, you should’ve seen how easy he lies!”

Tommy ignores Tubbo as he continues to scan the buildings on the opposite of the sidewalk they were at, “This is where he got attacked. His house has to be one of these.”

While he had been trapped in the car to prevent him from going apeshit on the man who hurt Ranboo, Tommy had taken notes on what buildings were nearby. It’s just something that automatically happens since he started training with Nihachu five years ago. She’s long since left the group but she’s constantly reminded Phil that she’s just a call away if medical assistance is needed. 

“But Tommy what if you're wrong about this?” Tubbo said, as he moved from speed walking behind his friend to walking side by side as Tommy slowed down his pace to get a good look of the area.

“You saw the message yourself, he literally just said ‘So’ after he told us his foster mother dug her nails into his skin,” Tommy snarled and Tubbo pulled half of his bottom lip under his teeth to gnaw at it while Tommy’s anger grew, “If that’s not a red flag for child abuse than I don’t know what is.”

Tubbo said nothing after that and they strolled behind Tommy as he went to each individual house and knocked on the door. If no one entered then he moved on to the next one. Both boys ignored the buzzing coming from their phones. They knew it was Phil trying to figure out where they’d gone. Or maybe the older man already knew where they were.

The few people that answered their doors didn’t know who Ranboo were and so the duo moved along. Until they reached an ugly pale yellow house with moss growing on the bottom and Tommy cautiously trailed up the stairs leading to the front door with Tubbo following behind him. When they reached the door, Tommy knocked on the door with his foot just as he had with all the other doors.

“Coming!” A young voice said from behind the door and a few moments later the door opened up to reveal a girl no more than ten, “Can I help you?”

“We were wondering if you know where a boy with black and white hair lives,” Tommy explained and the girl’s green eyes seemed to zone out a little in thought, “His name is Ranboo.”

“Oh you mean Mr. Ran!” The girl exclaimed, pronouncing the invisible h in Ranboo’s name, “He lives in the house next door. He comes over every once in a while to help me with work. I don’t think he’ll be coming over today though.”

“Why is that?” Tubbo asked and the little girl looked at him with a frown.

“I heard yelling earlier and saw the mean lady dragging him into the house,” She explained, fidgeting with her hands behind her back.

Tommy nodded at the girl, “Thank you for your help.”

She smiled at Tommy and Tubbo and closed the door when the two boys turned around to head over to the house next to hers. Tommy’s eyes scanned the exterior of the well taken care of light blue house that Ranboo apparently lived in with his foster mother. Tommy wasted no time in knocking on the grey door. Nobody called out that they were coming but both boys knew Ranboo and his foster mother were inside. The little girl hadn’t mentioned that they had left the house.

Tubbo stepped forward and also knocked on the door with his shoes and an annoyed, “Hold on!” came from inside- the voice obviously not Ranboo’s.

A woman about the height of Tubbo answered the door, a dark colored book in her hands. Her dark brown hair was neatly tucked behind her ears and her light brown eyes glimmered from the sun above. She looked Tommy and Tubbo in the face before leaning against her doorway, hiding the book behind her back.

“Can I help you boys?” She asked sweetly with a smile towards the duo.

“Yeah, we’re friends of Ranboo’s,” Tubbo explained as his phone buzzed noisily in his pocket, making the woman raise an eyebrow and glance down at his pants pocket where the noise had come from, “We wanted to see how he was doing after the incident this morning.”

“Oh that,” She said, no emotion showing in her voice and she rolled her eyes, “He’s fine, don’t worry about him-”

“Really now?” Tommy challenged and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the woman who glared fiercely at the taller boy, “Your neighbor said she heard yelling earlier and that you dragged Ranboo into the house.”

Tubbo didn’t glance at Tommy but gave his hand a tight squeeze. Neither of them could afford Tommy lashing out due to worry and anger. Especially in public view and in the middle of the day. Tubbo couldn’t do much to stop Tommy if the boy was overtaken by his urge to protect his friends.

Then again, in this situation Tubbo wouldn’t even try if Tommy did.

“He is fine,” She repeated and looked at Tubbo, “You didn’t even pronounce his name right. It’s Ranboo, there’s an invisible h in his name. Some  _ friends  _ you are.”

Tubbo spoke again before Tommy could explode on the woman, “Listen, we just want to see our friend. Is that really too much to ask for?”

The woman had an amused expression on her face and she let out a fake laugh, “With an attitude like that, I don’t think you two deserve to.”

Tommy gritted his teeth and the hand not holding Tubbo’s went behind his back to clench in anger, “Lady we just want to see him. DOn’t make this difficult.”

She went quiet for a moment and her lips parted as she watched his from the corner of her eye. She sighed, seeming tired and moved away from the front door and into the house leaving the door open for the two boys. The duo entered the house and began calling out for Ranboo while the woman got a bottle of Everclear out from a cabinet in the kitchen and sat at the table nearby.

The woman stared at the bottle in her hands with contempt in her eyes. Everclear is known for being 95% alcohol, and even in small quantities can kill a person. She could hear one of the boys fretting over her fostered child while one of them seemed to be calling someone for help. She unscrewed the cap of the bottle. 

Airy chuckles filtered from her mouth as she stared at the clear substance in the bottle. She could just drink it. It wouldn’t be a pleasant death, sure, but she deserved it. Ranboo isn’t the first kid she’s done that to, the authorities just haven’t found Angelica’s body yet. She deserves death after all the pain she’s put her only two fostered kids through.

She thinks of her own child, a handsome son who hates her with every atom of his body. He blames her for his fear of authority and fear of talking to people in fear that they’ll lash out. She never meant to make him afraid. She just wanted to teach him that his attitude and sarcasm wasn’t appreciated. 

Without thinking another moment about her son Liam, she tips the bottle back and lets the burning liquid cascade down her throat.


	5. Dare Not Defy Phil

_ [Dream]:  _ An ambulance and multiple police cars just pulled up to Ranboos house

_ [Dadza]: _ I swear to god if it was Tommy and Tubbo's doing I'll put a bullet through both of their heads

_ [Dream]:  _ It was definitely their doing. I watched them walk from house to house to find Ranboos

_ [King]:  _ i don't blame them

_ [Wilby]:  _ I would do the same thing tbh

_ [Dadza]:  _ They left without asking and ignored my texts

_ [Arsonist]:  _ Phil it's not that big of a deal. They did it to help their friend. Don't act like you wouldn't do the same thing if your friend was showing the same signs. 

**The group chat went quiet for a few minutes as no one dared to put another message after Sapnap to agree with him.**

_ [Dadza]:  _ Nick, come to the house now. You have ten minutes

_ [Arsonist]  _ has gone offline

_ [Dadza]:  _ I swear to god if another one of you talks to me like that again I will actually start putting bullets in heads

_ [Timetravel]:  _ You aren't actually gonna do that to him… right?

_ [Dadza]:  _ Depends.

_ [Aveniño]:  _ On?

_ [Dadza]:  _ On if he keeps being annoying. 

_ [Dadza] _ has gone offline

**Switching over from** **SMP Chat** **to** **Reckless Souls Chat** **.**

_ [Techno]: _ Not gonna lie, Phil has been giving me dictator vibes lately

_ [Eret]:  _ yeah, he's being real bossy lately. tommy and tubbo most likely just saved the kid from his foster mother and he's angry at them. 

_ [Wilbur]: _ And all Sapnap did was defend them and now he's getting in trouble. It's bullshit

_ [Techno]:  _ We could ask him to tone it down. The whole point of this group was so that no one person would be in complete control. 

_ [Eret]:  _ look how well that turned out. phil has basically complete control and us three are apparent "heirs to the throne"

_ [Eret]:  _ i think that we should ask him to tone it down. just later though so that he can finish with sapnap and be more calmer about what we have to say

_ [Wilbur]:  _ Or we could rebel

_ [Techno]:  _ ??? Uh are you blind? Philza is literally mad at Tommy and Tubbo for helping their friend. They're too young for Phil to actually hurt so imagine what he would do to us. We're his three heirs and he can actually hurt us

_ [Eret]:  _ it doesn't have to be our first option. it can be plan c. we should try asking him to tone it down and if that doesn't work then we can figure out what plan b will be

_ [Wilbur]:  _ We could try Nihachu. She might be able to help. 

_ [Techno]:  _ Phil doesn't want anyone contacting her. 

_ [Eret]:  _ you really think a threat from phil would keep wilbur from keeping in contact with her. 

_ [Wilbur]:  _ Phil listens to her so if Plan A doesn't work then she's our Plan B and if that doesn't work then we rebel against Philza at chaos level 35%. 

_ [Eret]:  _ alright, i agree with this plan

_ [Techno]:  _ I agree with the first two but that last one doesn't sit right with me

_ [Wilbur]: _ We wouldn't actually do something that would get the entire group in trouble. Maybe move Phil's items around the nobody is in the room, watch movies excessively loud, and do the things he asks slightly wrong so that he has to correct us. 

_ [Eret]:  _ yeah, technoblade we're liars not suicidal maniacs __

_ [Techno] is starting a group call _

Switching over from **Reckless Souls Chat** to **Team Safe**

_ [PissBaby]:  _ Phil is really pissed at you two

_ [PissBaby]:  _ Sapnap tried defending you two but now he's in trouble with Phil

_ [MrPresident]: _ Yeah we figured he'd be mad

_ [Deadboy]:  _ Shit, he's gonna hurt Sapnap isn't he?

_ [MrPresidentsHusband]: _ Uh… we're all literally in the same room why are we texting?

_ [PissBaby]:  _ So we can keep track of the things we say primarily because of your memory problems

_ [MrPresidentsHusband]:  _ Right- so why is Sapnap getting hurt by Phil

_ [MrPresident]: _ Because Phil is an authoritarian 

_ [Deadboy]:  _ Phil is a authoritarian 

_ [MrPresidentsHusband]:  _ I think Tommy should be the President's husband- not me

_ [Deadboy]:  _ DREAM STOP FUCKING LAUGHING AT US

_ [MrPresident]:  _ Ranboo not you two!

_ [MrPresidentsHusband]: _ too* 

_ [MrPresidentsHusband]:  _ Also, my social worker is coming today to take me away. Might have to stay a good few weeks in the home until somebody else decides they want to deal with the teenager whose been abused by all their past "parents" except for their biological ones

_ [PissBaby]:  _ You can't run away from our questions now

_ [MrPresidentsHusband] has gone offline _

_ [PissBaby] has gone offline _

_ [MrPresident] has gone offline _

_ [Deadboy] has gone offline _


End file.
